Task force: Give schools fund discretion

ATLANTA - Gov. Sonny Perdue's task force on education finance recommended Monday that the state give school districts the room to decide how to spend state money.

But the panel only danced around discussing what it convened three years ago to do - revamp the formula the state uses to determine funding for K-12 education.

Instead, the panel voted to recommend that the state create more flexible spending rules for school systems, which lawmakers may consider during the next few months.

Under the committee's proposal, school systems that agree to meet more rigorous academic standards may be freed from mandates, such as strict class-size rules, and earn flexibility to spend state dollars where they choose.

Task force chairman Dean Alford, a former member of the state Board of Education, called the recommendation a "very important first step" toward reworking the funding formula.

But some observers say the task force is taking too long to accomplish its mission.

"It should have been on this agenda," said Sally FitzGerald, head of education policy for the Georgia PTA, following the meeting. "Three and a half years and all we have is a plan for flexibility? It's taking an inordinate amount of time to get where they're going."